I only want her heart
by FredGeorgeWeasley
Summary: The Final Battle is over and Harry is having a great time, but then he recieves a mysterious letter from Ginny, splitting up with him. Can they get back together? But was it Ginny who wrote the letter? Why did she do it? Or why did someone else?
1. Chapter 1 The Invitation

**I only want **_**her**_** heart**

**Chapter 1 – The Invitation**

Harry's head shot up as he heard a tapping coming from behind him. His head spun round and he came face to face with an elegant Golden Eagle owl. Ginny's owl. His heart was racing as got up and stumbled in his haste to reach it and retrieve the letter.

He hadn't spoken to Ginny in a week, or sent her a letter, or received a one from her, or even seen her, and it was driving him crazy. He hated waking up each day knowing he wouldn't be able to kiss her good morning, he hated the time when he reached for the _Daily Prophet_, only to see a picture of himself and Ginny plastered across the front, he hated the very thought of her with another man, but mot of all he hated not being able to just smile with her.

It had been three glorious weeks since the battle and Harry had been having the time of his life, with the people he loved most when he'd woken up one morning in the flat he shared with Ron and George and received a letter from Ginny, with this very owl in fact.

_Dear Harry _[The letter read]

_I'm so sorry. I just don't think it's working, you and me I and mean. Maybe it would be best if we spent some time away from each other. I don't think we should talk either, I don't want to , I don't know what I would say._

_Ginny_

It had ripped his heart out, and in the week since he had just mooched around the flat. Ron wasn't helping either, just telling Harry maybe it wasn't meant to be and he should really get up and out, that he would never win any girl's heart by staying in, but really he only wanted Ginny's.

With trembling fingers he untied the letter from the owl's leg, and opened it. To his dismay, it was simply a letter from Mrs Weasley inviting him, Ron and George to tea that evening.

_Well of course he wasn't going, it would mean seeing Ginny. _

He wrote a short reply, telling Mrs Weasley that Ron and George would be there, but he wouldn't. Though as he was about to fix the letter to the owl's leg, a thought struck him, _why shouldn't he go? _

Ron was right, he wouldn't win any girl's heart by mooching around his flat, and it was Ginny's he really wanted. _Ginny would be there_, he thought_, he had to try, to explain, even if she said she didn't want to talk._

He re-wrote the reply and quickly sent it off before he could chicken out, then went to make himself look at least slightly respectable.

* * *

When Ron arrived back from spending the day at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with George, he found Harry clean and shaven, dressed in something other than the baggy t-shirt and joggers he'd been in for the past week.

'Where you goin'?' Ron asked.

'Your mum invited us all over there for a family dinner, I thought I'd go,' Harry shrugged.

Ron's mouth dropped open, and a look of panic crossed his face, so quickly that Harry wasn't even sure it was there. 'What?' Harry asked, confused.

'Ginny,' was all Ron managed in reply.

'I know. I figured I had to try. I mean like you said, I'm not gonna win any girl's heart mooching around this flat.'

'But, the letter . . . it said . . . she didn't wanna talk . . .'

'But Ron, I love her, I'm not letting it all go that easily,'

Ron still had a fairly vacant expression, and Harry didn't mistake what was this time clearly was panic cross his face as he stumbled into his bedroom to change. 'Right,' he mumbled as he went.

* * *

Twenty minutes later found Harry pacing the exact same area he had been in when Ron arrived home. A creak from the door made him look up and see George entering the flat.

'Hullo. We're going to the Burrow for dinner in ten minutes. Whole family's gonna be there. Would hurry up if I were you.'

'_You'r_e going?' asked a fairly shocked George in reply. It appeared the whole family knew about his situation with Ginny.

'Um, yeh . . . I've got to try. I mean, I love her'

George raised his eyebrows and scrurried off with a quick, 'OK,' to change into something a little smarter, or at least a little cleaner. Even Harry noticed the dust coating his robes.

When George was out of sight, Harry ran towards the door of Ron's room and knocked quickly, 'Ron? Are you alright?'

'Uh yeh,' was the simple reply.

'Ron, you've been in there forever. Usually it takes you about two minutes to change and any mention of food, you're right out the door.'

'I'm fine Harry, really,' Ron said as he opened the door. The vacant expression had gone, but panic and worry was still somehow etched into his face.

'Is it something to do with Hermione?'

'No Harry, honestly, let's just go,' he said quietly with a very sombre expression, turning to walk towards the door, but Harry grabbed his arm, spinning him around with a concerned look on his face.

'Something's up. I can tell.'

'Oh for Christ's sake Harry. Just leave it can't you?' Ron burst out, but immediately looked embarrassed for his anger.

After that, Harry figured whatever it was he wasn't going to say, and by that time George had appeared from the bedroom so he just followed a fidgeting Ron towards the door in silence.

The worry Harry had been feeling earlier returned to him. _What if she told him she hated him? What if she said she had a new boyfriend? _Harry didn't think he could handle it if that were true.

_No. _He thought to himself. _She's not that sort of person._

But then she wasn't the sort of person to send him a letter splitting up with him without telling him why.

It was the two faint 'pop's of the other two apparating away that brought him to his senses. Slowly, he took a deep breath before spinning on the spot himself and apparating away to the Burrow.


	2. Chapter 2 Together Again

**I only want **_**her**_** heart**

**Chapter 2 – Together Again**

Harry turned to face the familiar front of the Burrow. The Weasley's home. His home too for many years now. It had always been somewhat reassuring to see this house, unscathed by any marks of war, but now it only seemed to increase his already high heart rate.

He ran forward to catch up with Ron and George as they approached the front door where a widely grinning Mrs Weasley stood.

She engulfed George in a giant motherly hug, then Ron, then finally Harry.

'Harry dear,' she said, 'How have you been? I didn't think you'd come.'

'Well . . . er . . . –' he started to reply, but was cut off by Mrs Weasley.

'But it's wonderful to see you anyway,' she said with a huge grin.

At that moment, Hermione appeared in the doorway with a grin to match Mrs Weasley's.

'Harry!' she cried, running towards him, 'How are you? How have you been? Are you OK? I've been so worried!' she finished as she flung her arms around Harry. It was a nice feeling, to know someone sympathised in how he was feeling and the hug gave him a little confidence in what he had to do.

'OI!' they were broken apart by the shout of Ron, 'What about me? I'm your boyfriend!'

As Hermione moved on to hug him, her cheeks a little flushed, Bill and Fleur arrived in the doorway.

George and Bill were sat on the hearth in front of the fire playing a game of wizard chess, while Mr Weasley stood by, shouting random bits of advice at both competitors.

Ron was sat with Charlie on the sofa, discussing the Chudley Cannons versus Holyhead Harpies match tomorrow afternoon, but he kept shooting anxious glances at Harry

Mrs Weasley was in the kitchen as always, cooking dinner.

Percy was telling an exhausted looking Hermione about the conference held to discuss a worldwide law hoping to be imposed about cauldron bottoms, whilst Fleur was sat with Audrey and Angelina (Percy and George's girlfriends).

Harry meanwhile was sat on his own fidgeting with his hands in his lap and Ginny still hadn't come down from her room, where she'd been when Harry arrived.

Percy got up to head to the bathroom and Hermione's head spun round to look at Harry. She had a very relived look on her face which quickly changed to concern when she saw the state Harry was in. 'You might as well get it over with. I mean, she's on her own and no-one will be able to hear you if you go upstairs and speak to her now.'

'Wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you,' said George with a quick wink, glancing up from the game.

'Okay,' said Hermione with a small smile, 'Check first for any sign of Extendable Ears, then talk to her.'

'Oh that's not the only method I've got on the go now!' said George as one of his Bishops took Bill's only remaining Knight.

'Just go Harry,' she said, ignoring George.

Harry's expression hadn't lightened, and he still didn't show any sign of getting up and moving.

'Voldemort, yep no probs, but talking to a girl, that's just completely out of your league,' she pressed on, obviously hoping to convince Harry.

He smiled up at her. It was just a small smile but she knew she had finally convinced him.

'Ok,' he said, getting slowly up from the sofa.

He headed over towards the door, but was stopped by Ron.

'Hey, where are you going?'

'I was just gonna talk . . . to, uh . . . –'

Ron's face was very panicky now. 'Well, er, why don't you just . . . er . . . play a game of chess with me now, you can talk to her later'

The last part was very hurried, and Harry was now certain that something was going on. He glanced at Hermione with a bemused look on his face, only to see his expression mirrored in hers.

'Ron, do you have a problem with me being with Ginny?' he asked roughly, turning back to Ron.

'No, no, no, no' Ron said very quickly indeed, 'Not at all, I just think – '

'Then I'm going to talk to her,' he said spinning around and walking pointedly out of the room before anyone else could stop him.

Harry stood outside the door of Ginny's room. He knew she was in there, he could hear muggle music playing. His heart was going so fast he was sure she could hear it inside.

_What if she just threw him out of her room?_

_What if she ignored him completely?_

'_Well,' _he thought, '_there's only one way to find out.'_

With that he reached his hand out to knock on the door, but before he had the chance to, there was Ginny, standing in the doorway, looking so absolutely stunning that Harry's breath was lost in his throat.

'Harry,' Ginny stuttered, shock all over her face.

'I, er,' he started. _Why hadn't he planned what to say? _'Ginny I know you said you didn't want to talk in your letter – '

But he was cut off by Ginny, '_MY_ letter?' she asked, 'I never sent a letter.'

'What?' Harry exclaimed, 'I got one from you saying you didn't think we should be together anymore.'

'I got one from you saying that!'

Both of them turned to face the stairs, fuming with anger. _Who would have done that to them?_

'Come on,' Harry uttered very quietly, turning back to face Ginny, 'we'll get them later.'

With that he flung his arms around Ginny's waist and pushed her back onto her bed, pressing his lips to hers.


	3. Chapter 3 Catching the Culprit

**Chapter 3 – Catching the Culprit**

'Ginny, it's tea time,' Ron said, knocking on the door of her room, 'Is Harry there?' he added, trying to keep his voice calm.

_No, _he told himself, _he can't be._ _Harry left the living room, over 20 minutes ago, and Ginny's room was directly above it, he would defiantly have heard them talking, or shouting as it would be. Harry must have gone outside for a walk. Alone. He could hear rustling coming from inside the door: Ginny was definately there._

With that thought in mind, he confidently pushed the door open.

In front of him was two people lying on a bed. Except that it didn't look like two people, for they were very much intwined. Lips glued. Tongues twisted. Hair touselled.

As Ron just stood there, framed in shock, Harry's hand slid up Ginny's top.

It was that which brought Ron back to his senses.

'OI!' he yelled.

Harry and Ginny jumped apart. 'WHAT, Ronald?' she spat, while Harry stood beside her, looking rather sheepish.

But Ron was too busy glaring at Harry to listen. 'What are you doing to my sister?'

'Ugh,' was Ginny's only reply. She moved her hand towards Harry's and slipped into his.

'You send her a letter,' he begin advancing on Harry, but was cut of by Ginny.

'How do you know about my letter?' she asked, breaking away from Harry

'Uh . . . I, uh'

'It was you wasn't it?' Harry said so quietly it was barely audiable. He reached back to grab his wand which was sat on Ginny's bedside table and he noticed hers wasn't there anymore either. He didn't take his gaze off Ron and the look in his eyes was murderous.

As one, both Harry and Ginny brought forward their wands from behind their backs, and shot hexes at Ron. Harry's hand roughly grabbed Ginny's as he lead her over Ron out of the room, a low snarl emmitting from his chest.

* * *

'Are you sure Ron's Okay?' asked Mrs Weasley, glancing up towards the stairs, 'It's been over 10 minutes.'

'I'm sure he's fine,' said Harry roughly, stabbing on a potato on his plate with more force than was neccesary.

'At least he is at the moment,' Ginny muttered under her breath so that only Harry could hear.

The meal continued in silence. Glances were shot a regular intervals to Harry and Ginny who were glaring at their plates. No-one but them understood a thing. No-one but them knew about the letters. No-one knew why Ginny and Harry had split up. No-one even knew if they were back together now. All they knew was that Harry had gone upstairs, where Ginny was, and by the time they came downstairs, without Ron who was sent up to get them, they were holding hands and absolutely fuming.

'Uh . . . Ginny . . . Harry . . . ' began Hermione, breaking the silence, 'Did Ron . . . uh . . . do something?'

'Yes Hermione, he bloody well did.'

'Um, do I want to know what it was?'

'I don't think you do.'

'Right,' whipserd Hermione, returning her gaze to the plate in front of her.

Silence enveloped the room again, only to be broken by the sound of heavy footfalls on the ceiling above. Every head whipped to face the staircase, including Harry's and Ginny's who had not left their plates all mealtime.

Ron appeared at that moment, looking very much the worse for wear. His eyebrows were singed, along with his shirt and he was dragging with him huge, swollen and very blistered feet. Bat-bogeys surrounded him as he trudged his way down the stairs.

Each head then turned to look at Harry and Ginny, who were glaring at him with looks that should have been able to commit murder on their own.

'R-ron-n-ald, what did you do?' stuttered Mr Weasley, glancing back to Ron.

'Nothing . . . I mean I-' he began, shrugging.

'TELL THEM RONALD' yelled Ginny, whipping her wand out and pointing it at Ron,'THE WHOLE STORY!'

'Tell them what? Yeah, I walked in on you doing something you shouldn't have even been doing in the first place-' that earned Harry a few quick glares-'but apart from th-'

'THE TRUTH' Harry shouted, whipping out his own wand, 'THEY DERSERVE TO KNOW!'

He stopped where he was, halfway across the kitchen towards the table. He faltered under the point of the two wands, and looked down, guilt showing plainly on his face for the first time since he had been discovered. He didn't say a thing, and still the two wands were not lowered.

'Ron, somethings going on,' Bill said very calmly, given the situation, 'Harry's right, we deserve to know.'

So Ron told them. He wouldn't have if he'd been given the choice, but every time he missed out a part, or steered the story away from himself, he saw the arms of Harry and Ginny, who still held their wands up strong, twitch or stiffen, as in preparation to cast.


	4. Chapter 4 Beautiful

**Chaper 4 - Beautiful**

Harry stared up at the sky above him, the first stars of the evening beginning to shine, and let his mind wander to the evening's events and reflect upon how much had changed in those few short hours.

Firstly, and most importantly, he had Ginny back. Her hand was in his as they strolled the familiar path through the woods to the stream near the Burrow. When Ron had finished telling his tale, they had sensed that all anyone needed was time to think over what had happened, and time enough they would have tonight, and tommorrow Harry supposed they would discuss it. Since he and Ginny were no longer needed, they had slipped out the back door for a little alone time.

Secondly, Ron had gone from being his best friend, to someone he hated. He still didn't understand why he would have done that to them, his sister and best mate. He supposed that would be part of what they would discuss tommorrow.

Thirdly and finally, he had gone from feeling uterly empty of emotion this morning to completely full now. He was guilty at how he had behaved towards everyone in the past week, annoyed at himself for not guessing what was going on, angry at Ron of course, and angry at himself for believing his Ginny would do such a thing, and upset too, that Ron would behave like that towards him. He also felt very sorry towards the rest of the Weasleys, for upsetting them again, so soon after they had already lost a son and a brother at a fault of his.

'Don't stress about it now,' Ginny said, as if guessing his thoughts, rubbing her hand up and down his arm and turning her body closer to his, 'I'm not gonna lie and say everything's gonna be okay, but for tonight, lets not mention it, alright?'

'Alright,' Harry looked down at her, and pulled her in for a hug.

It was in that moment, when he looked down at her, and she looked up at him, that he realised it. He loved her. He had never felt an emotion so strong towards anyone before, and there was nothing else it could be. He had known for ages that he liked her - and liked her a lot for that matter - but this was something different, something different entirely. And he had to tell her.

Then, as the trees cleared to reveal a truly beautiful spot: a gushing stream, sparkling in the moonlight, surrounded by lush greenery, he remembered the little gift sitting in his flat that he had bought her for her 17th brithday. He realised then that he had missed her birthday and another wave of guilt swallowed him.

'Is something wrong Harry?' Ginny asked, concerned.

He hadn't noticed until then that he had stopped walking.

'No, not at all.' he replied coming back to the present, 'I just have to pop back to the flat quickly, to get something. I''ll be back before you can say 'quidittch''

With that he let go of Ginny's hand, and spun on the spot. He knew exactly were it was, and he ran to get it, but a voice he hadn't been anticipating found him.

'Harry, is that you?' it asked.

He stopped where he was, spun around and slowly entered the rarely-used kitchen area. There, sat on a stool at the breakfast bar, was a muggle-born witch with frizzy brown hair, and a very soggy tissue in her hand.

'Er . . . Hermione,' he began, 'Are you okay?'

_Stupid question, of course she not okay you fool, why else would she be crying? _

'I mean, of course your not okay, what a stupid thing to say. I mean, why would you be okay, after what happended today. It was a shock for all of us, I know, but you must have felt it hardest, being so close to him, and all, and not knowing a thing.'

Okay, so now he was babbling. _You just can't get anything right can you? _he asked himself.

'Would you like another tissue?' he ended up asking.

She nodded her head so hopelessly that Harry just had to go and hug her. What he wasn't expecting was for her to wrap her arms around him and hold onto him for dear life. And he just stood there. If this helped her, he was happy to go along with it.

'Oh look at me,' she sniffed after several minutes, pulling away from him, 'It was you h-h-he was so horrible to, I should be comforting you!' she ended in quite a hysterical manner.

'Hermione, I'm fine, well, as fine as I can be under the circumstances, but you're not,' he said loudly, blocking out her feeble arguments. 'Just stay here, I'll be back in a sec.'

He ran off into his bedroom, not only to get Ginny's birthday present, but also a potion sat on his bedside table. He had used it a lot in the past week.

When back in the kitchen, he helped her up and led her over to sit down on the sofa. He then got her a tissue and fixed her up a cup of tea, pouring some of the potion in. It was a fairly complex Sleeping Drought and would put her mind to rest, and when she woke up again, not before tommorrow morning, she would hopefully feel relaxed, and be able to think things over in a rational manner.

'Here, drink this,' Harry said, handing her the cup of tea. 'You'll feel better soon.'

'Thanks so much Harry, you've been great.'

'No problem, but I really had better get back now, I told Ginny I'd be really quick. But don't worry about it, she'll understand.' he added when he saw the worried look on Hermione's face. 'I'll come back later to see how you're doing. Bye'

* * *

When he arrived back in the clearing, Ginny was sitting on the bank, staring across the stream. The sky above them was black. She turned when she heared him apparate.

'I could have said quidditch a good few times since you left you know,' she said with a small smile.

'Sorry,' said Harry, going to sit down next to her, 'but Hermione was there, she was kind of upset.'

'Is she alright now?' Ginny asked, snuggling up to Harry.

'I gave her a sleeping drought, and we just have to make sure someone, namely not Ron, is there when she wakes up,' replied Harry.

A comfortable silence fell between them then. The only noise was the rush of the river, and a warm Summer breeze whipping through the trees surrounding the couple.

'Are you going to tell me what you went back for or not?' Ginny asked him, smiling slightly.

'Alright,' Harry replied, rearranging himself so he was in a proper sitting position facing Ginny. The moonlight reflected off her face in such a perfect way, he almost forgot what he was going to say, but he regained himself quickly. 'I missed your birthday last week.' he began, looking down.

'Don't worry about it,' Ginny said quickly, 'Go on.'

'Well, I got you a present, it was, after all your 17th,' he added, when Ginny sounded like she was about to interupt him, 'And I never gave it to you, and I reckon now is the time.'

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little package wrapped in pale pink tissue paper and handed it to Ginny.

She took it and very delicately began to undo the spellotape. She gasped as she unfolded the final layer.

'Oh Harry,' she whipsered, 'you shoudn't have.'

He reached foward to pick up the white gold chain and draped it round her neck. He shuffled around so he was sat behind her and brushed her long hair out of the way so her could do up the clasp. He then gently kissed her neck, and let her hair fall back again.

'It's so beautiful' she uttered softly, as her fingered absent-mindedly went up to touch the two hearts hanging around her neck. The top one had the words, '_I love you' _inscribed into it with a small diamond inset into the white gold beneath it. The second heart was just a rim, but the names _Harry_ and _Ginny _had been inscribed into it so small it could barely be seen by the naked eye.

'_You're_ so beautiful,' he told her, cupping her face in his hands, 'And I love you.'

With that he brought he face to his and softly kissed her lips.

* * *

_I'll admit that was mainly a load of very pointless fluff, but hey, I had fun writing it! _

_Thanks to _**Dragyn42**_who gave me a load of good advice and yeah, I did agree with _most_ of what you said, and it will probably make my fan fic better as whole (not to mention easier to write!) by changing my previous (and pretty bad) Chapter 4 to this one. Tell me what you think of the change. I like it, but please don't tell me parts of it are a bit rushed coz I noticed that myself and wasn't sure how to change it so just left it._


	5. Chapter 5 The Fight

**Chapter 5 - The Fight**

'Ow!' Bill exclaimed as he caught his leg on a nearby bramble. 'This is really starting to annoy me now.'

'I know what you mean,' agreed George as he swerved to avoid a low-hanging branch, 'Where the bloody hell could they be?'

Despite their regular complaints, neither of them really wanted to find Harry and Ginny, as that would mean going back to the Burrow. And at that particular moment in time, the Burrow wasn't quite the place it used to be.

Again, though neither of them voiced it, they were each very concerned about what 'position' they might find the couple in. They had brought their wands, for if Harry did, or had done something they weren't too happy with, he was going to know. Hey, she was their baby sister; no-one could blame them for wanting to protect her.

'Remember, we're listening out for a river, that's where they always talk about going, and I'll bet they'll be there this time,' Bill repeated for the tenth time that morning.

'Yes Bill, I noooooooo.'

'Ok, ok, just reminding you.'

They continued in silence for a while, weaving in and out of the trees. They had been searching for nearly an hour now and Mrs Weasley was sure to be wondering where they had got to.

'Stop!' Bill yelled, 'Hear that?'

'Nope, what is it?'

'Rushing water,' he paused listening. 'That way,' he pointed and starting heading off to his left.

'Aha!' cried George as they rounded the last of the trees to find the couple lay on the bank of the river in each others arms, Harry's lips still pressed against the top of Ginny's head, which was sat on his chest.

They both stirred at the sound of George's voice.

'Eh,' Harry was the first to speak. 'What's goin' on?' he asked groggily, as he shook Ginny off him and sat up.

'We are so very sorry to wake you from what I'm sure was a very,' George paused to find the right word, '_romantic _little sleep, but it is 11 'o' clock and everyone's re-'

_'Eleven?!' _Harry cried jumping up.

'What's wrong Harry?' Ginny asked, still sat on the ground.

'Hermione,' he replied, taking her hand and pulling her up, 'She should have woken up by now and if she hasn't, she will do very soon. We'll see you at the Burrow in about 10 minutes, we'll be in contact if it's gonna be any longer,' he added to Bill and George, who nodded absentmindedly, seeming to get the gist of what was going on.

'Hang on!' Bill added, 'We don't know how to get back . . . ' But he petered off at the end, for Harry and Ginny had already gone.

* * *

'Phew,' Harry sighed, 'she's still asleep. We should wake her up though, we need to get back to the Burrow,' he added, looking up at Ginny.

'But she looks so peaceful just there.' Ginny argued. Harry looked back down at Hermione; it was true, she didn't look worried or phased by anything. He didn't want to wake her either.

But it seemed their talking had already roused her. 'Huh?' she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

'Hermione,' Ginny began, resting a resurring arm on her shoulder, 'we need to get back to the Burrow now. We understand if you don't want to come. You can stay here all day and we'll come back later and tell you everything if you want.'

Understanding replaced curiousity on her face. 'No, no!' she cried, jumping up, 'I want to know what he-' a dark look flashed across her face '-has got to say for himself. I _need _to know.'

'Well, if you're sure.' and with that Ginny grabbed both their hands and they apparated back to the Burrow.

* * *

The tension in the usually warm and friendly lounge could be cut with a knife. Everyone was crowded around one end of the room, with Ron sat fidgetting at the other. No-one knew what to say. No-one knew where to start. Everyone however, was avioding meeting Ron's eyes.

'Well . . . Er . . .' Mr Weasley began with a cautious look at his wife. 'We all know what Ron has done,' he said more confidently, like he was at some sort conference, 'and we are now going to discuss it.'

Everyone was now looking at Mr Weasley, waiting for him to go on. 'Well don't look at me, I haven't done anything!'

All eleven heads whipped around to face Ron, who looked swiftly up.

'Wha' d' ya wanna know?' he asked very quietly and very roughly.

'Why, Ron,' Hermione whispered through her tears. Her voice sounded as though it might just break with emotion.

Ginny wrapped her arms around her in comfort and Ron turned to face them, guilt and sorrow all over it.

'I-I just . . .' he looked down at his lap. 'I was jealous,' he blurted out suddenly. 'They were so happy, everything was working for them. They weren't even mourning Fred or Tonks or Lupin or anyone!'

'Fred would have wanted them to be happy!' George yelled out, his anger getting the better of him. 'He wouldn't have wanted them to mourn.'

'Ron, don't you understand? Harry's spent his whole life being bullied, worrying, fighting, mourning, or something like that. Didn't you think he deserved a bit of happiness after everything he'd done for the wiarding world?' Mr Weasley asked, leaning forward.

'But we were there too! Me and Hermione!' Ron exclaimed, angry now. 'He was always the one who got the attention! It was him who won the Triwizard Tournament and got all that fame, but he wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for us two! No-one ever noticed us, no, we were just famous Harry Potter's famous friends! One step behind him all the time!'

_WHAT?! _Harry's mind exclaimed . _He knew had Ron got jealous, but that was years ago! He was sure Ron had got over that._

Harry was quick to recover from this revelation. 'Do you think I enjoyed that Ron? The staring and the whispering? Everywhere I went?' He was now standing up in front of the sofa, ''cos you're welcome to it Ron, anytime!'

'Uh-uh,' he faltered, looking down. There was silence for a moment, the only sound Harry's heavy breathing and all eyes focused on Ron.

'But even now!' he continued, looking back up, 'You and Ginny! Won't leave each other alone! Ever!'

'Yeah, well,' Harry sat slowly back down, 'you're not a lot better.'

'Actually, me and Hermiome-' he broke off.

It was then Harry realised what he had said; Ron and Hermione were forever getting on each other's nerves. They always seemed to Harry to be on the very edge, but this was sure to have knocked them right over.

But he didn't regret it. Not at all. The worse Ron felt, the better.

'But that's beside the point!' Ron yelled. 'You just don't understand how I was feeling! How I _am _feeling!'

'Then help us to Ron,' Mrs Weasley said softly.

'Urgh,' he replied, shooting an irritated glance at his mother, 'fine!'

He paused.

'_I_ was still upset! _I _was still scared! Not everything was working out for _me_! But to _Harry_. Oh yes, to _Harry_! Life was perfect! Everything was just so bloody _perfect_! Urgh!'

Everyone was staring at a now hysterical Ron.

'What?' he shreaked.

'So you chose to destroy everything I had? That was making me happy?' Harry asked, standing up and advancing on Ron.

_'YES!!!'_

'And you thought we'd both just go on with our lives? As if nothing had happened? Except without the other?'

'Well, I didn't think you behave as much as an ... an ...' Ron struggled to find the right word, 'an _whatever_ as you have been!'

Harry plunged his hand into his back pocket.

_He didn't believe this was happening - _Ron_, his best mate, and now he was prepared to hex him. More than prepared to, he really, really _wanted_ to hex him, and now, in this very minute, he was going to._

But as he raised his wand, he saw three lines of red light whizz past him, and seconds Ron was slumped back against the wall.

Shocked, Harry spun around. What he saw very much surprised him; three people were stowing theirs wands away, but they were not the three people he had expected to see.


	6. Chapter 6 Try and Take it Well

**Chapter 6 - Try and Take it Well**

'So Hermione, where did that come from earlier?' asked George as he strolled casually into the small circle of chairs surrounding the fire, clutching a butterbeer in his right hand.

Night had fallen many hours ago, but the inhabitants of the Burrow were still sat around outside. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Angelina had managed to snag the area around camp fire.

'Yeah, I've been wondering that,' Ginny said turning in Harry's arms to face Hermione, 'it's not the sort of thing you do!'

At the abrupt change of subject, Hermione's face flushed a deep red and a dark look crossed her face.

'I was just so, so mad!' she suddenly burst out, shaking, 'How could he have done that?! To his sister and his best friend?! Knowing full well what it would do to the both of you! Unless he was just being so bloody thick again! But then again when has he ever been anything else?!' she ended very high-pitched.

Harry, Ginny, Angelina and George all stared at Hermione; very, very rarely did she ever loose control and never, ever was it quite this bad. Sure, she got annoyed at Ron, and then she would start ranting and raving about him. But this wasn't quite the same.

'Hermione-' Ginny began, reaching an arm out, trying to calm her down, for now her hands had balled into fists, but Harry stopped her.

'It'll be good for her to let it all out. Trust me,' he added when Ginny still didn't look too convinced.

'Urgh!' she continued, thumping the ground with her fist, 'And did you hear him earlier? Saying he was just jealous, of _Harry. Harry _of all people!'

'I don't think she means it in an offensive way,' Ginny muttered to Harry under her breath.

'And then he involved me! Well, he never actually mentioned me,' she reasoned, forgetting to yell for a second, 'but he might well have done!' she shouted, firing straight back up again, 'He said, no _yelled, _how perfect your two lives are now! I mean he acted as though neither of you are upset about anything! It's not like you two just spent nearly a year apart! Oh no!'

Harry glanced shiftily down at Ginny. Even with only the slight glow from the fire he could see she was also looking uncomfortable. He hadn't expected Hermione to start on them. Not that she was saying anything horrible, but it still wasn't altogether pleasant.

'Urgh! Could you really have expected me _not_ to hex him? I mean you two hexed him too, Ginny and you Angelina! But honestly, I don't see how _on Earth _doing that was meant to make his life any better. Did he really think by doing that I was gonna' like him more? That I _wouldn't_ absolutely _hate _him even? That we would be-'

But Ginny cut her off. 'But Hermione, you do still care,' she said simply.

Hermione stared at her incredulously; she seemed rather surprised at being roused from her shouting spree, even that there was anyone still there, listening to her. 'Oh right! Yes! Of course I do! After all of that!'

'You do. If you didn't, you wouldn't still be angry, you wouldn't be shouting. You do care, which is why it's affected you so much.'

And at that Hermione burst into loud, heavy sobs.

Ginny took her gently in her arms, 'Hermione, how about you get some sleep?'

She nodded into Ginny's chest as she took her slowly into the house.

* * *

'Ouch!' Harry cried as he attempted to cross the kitchen towards the stairs much later that evening, but crashed into the table.

'Harry?' Ginny enquired through the surrounding darkness, 'Be quiet, Hermione's just through there!'

'Oh right, sorry. Do you know where the stairs are?'

He heard a quiet giggle from somewhere to his left as Ginny's hand slipped out of his.

'Oi!' he accused as quietly as was possible, whilst following the sound of her soft footfalls. He found the stairs and began, very slowly, to climb.

'Omph,' he stuttered as he fell backwards. 'Ginny! However much I love your backside,-' it was far too dark to see either of the red tinges that were surely slipping onto both their faces now -'I do not appreciate walking into it right now.'

'Sorry, Harry. Can you be quiet for a sec? I can hear someone crying.'

Now that his footsteps, too, had quietened, he could hear a sobbing from somewhere above.

'It's coming from up there,' Ginny pointed (though being dark, Harry could not see this gesture) and they both steadily began to climb.

When they came to Mr and Mrs Weasley's bedroom door, Ginny threw out an arm to stop Harry going any further.

'Oh Arthur, oh Arthur!' came a bodiless sob through the door.

Harry heard a small gasp come from Ginny. He didn't think it was right to listen in on something so private, but he seemed to be glued to the spot.

'How could he have done that Arthur? Why? What did we do wrong?'

'Nothing, Molly,' came Arthur's voice, gentle and consoling. 'I'm sure it was nothing to do with how we raised him.'

'But then why, oh why did he do that? Our son, _our _son?'

Harry had been so wrapped up in how Hermione was feeling, he had barely spared a thought for Mr and Mrs Weasley. Now that he thought about it, he realised it was really rather stupid; they were, after all, Ron's _parents_. Just because they had put on a brave face earlier, didn't mean they weren't upset.

'Calm down, Molly. He'll come through. He'll realise soon what he's done. He'll regret it. I wouldn't be surprised if he already has. He's been so wrapped up in grief lately, he's not himself. He wasn't in his right mind when he did that. Now, just go to sleep.'

There was silence from inside the room now. Harry continued on up the stairs, sincerly hoping that what Mr Weasley had said was true.


	7. Chapter 7 Discussing

**Chapter 7 - Discussing**

The sun shone over the hills and into the East-facing windows of the Burrow, illuminating two figures curled up together on a bed. Dust swirled and danced in the early morning rays as the figures began to stir, awoken by the call of the birds.

'Mornin',' muttered Ginny, as she spun around to face her boyfriend who lay on the other side of the bed.

He didn't think that any of Ginny's brothers would approve of him being there, never mind her parents (she was, after all, just 17), but when he had decided it was time for bed the previous night, he realised he didn't actually have anywhere to sleep. He didn't think it was a good idea to go back to his flat, as Ron was there. He really didn't want to sleep in Ron's room. Hermione was on the sofa in the lounge. Seeing as it was just him and Ginny still awake, she suggested that he sleep with her, and he agreed only too happily.

'Hey,' he yawned back, planting a soft kiss on her lips. 'What's the time?'

'It's only about 7. Those bloody birds wake me up at bloody stupid times every single bloody day!'

'Never mind,' Harry uttered, rolling over on top of her, his face inches from hers and his breath tickling her cheeks, 'it gives us more time together.'

He kissed her softly, slowly, and passionately, cupping her face with his hands. Her arms snaked up around his neck, pulling him closer as their kissing grew more intense.

* * *

The sun was high in the sky when a noise broke the perfect silence. Ginny had been perfectly content to just lie there, with her head on Harry's bare chest as he snored softly, listening to his steady breathing and the rise and fall of his chest. The plodding footfalls walking past the door startled Ginny, and she jumped, waking Harry up.

'What is it?' he asked, staring round at her.

She had a fairly worried look on her face as she answered. 'Bill, I think that was. But everyone, everyone else! It's nearly 10 'o' clock!'

'What are you talking about, Ginny?'

'You, Harry. Being here, in my room. With no clothes on. Don't you think that's just a teensy bit suspicious?'

'Right,' he said, jumping up and pulling on his shirt, finally understanding what she was on about.

'And Harry ...' Ginny began.

'Yeh?' he answered, pausing in pulling on his boxers.

'Haven't you been wearing those clothes for three days straight now? Have you even showered?'

'Well ... no ... but I don't have any more clothes to wear! And I'm not going back to the flat, not now.'

'Get in there,' Ginny replied, climbing out of bed herself and shoving him through a door Harry had never entered before. 'And I'll sort these out,' she added, picking up Harry's clothes and pointing her wand at them.

* * *

'What exactly did you do to these?' Harry asked for the tenth time that morning, sniffing the shoulder of his shirt.

'I've told you,' Ginny replied, looking away as she walked on down the stairs towards the promising smell of breakfast, 'I just _scourgified_ them.'

'Hmph. Really. They would -'

However, he had no time to finish his sentence as they had already entered the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley came up to them. 'Ah, Harry dear, you found somewhere to sleep then?'

'Uh, yeh, I just went up to Ron's room. You know, the camp bed is still there.'

They had decided that this lie was as good as any, although Harry thought Mrs. Weasley's eyes were not entirely believing as she answered him.

'Hmmm, well, okay. Come along and have some breakfast, then. What do you want? Sausage? Bacon? Eggs? Scrambled or poached? There are both. Or there's toast. And-'

Harry and Ginny both answered her, and sat down to join the rest of the family.

As Mrs. Weasley piled their plates high with anything she could find, Mr. Weasley began to speak.

'We were just talking about what we're going to do with Ron. We didn't get very far yesterday, so there's no point dragging him here and going through yesterday again. We don't really know what to do.'

'I like the idea of just hexing him a good few times. You know, do a bit of permanent damage. He won't try anything again in a hurry,' George suggested.

'He'll be pretty sorry he ever did anything in the first place.'

'You'll do no kind of thing to your brother, George,' Mrs. Weasley scolded, picking up his plate.

No one else said anything, and all that could be heard were the sounds of Harry and Ginny eating, and Mrs. Weasley tidying up.

'You know ... that might actually work,' Mr. Weasley said thoughtfully. 'Not permanent damage or anything, Molly dear,' he added hurriedly when he saw the look on Mrs. Weasley's face, 'but you know, make him regret everything he did. We can make him think about what he did and everything afterwards ...'

'Really, Arthur,' Mrs. Weasley said, continuing to tidy up the finished breakfast things, 'you can't honestly be thinking of doing that. You must be kidding us me.'

Despite Mrs. Weasley's opinion on the matter, nobody else was looking at Mr. Weasley like he was kidding; Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Percy, Angelina, Harry and Ginny all had looks on their faces that suggested they thought what Mr. Weasley was saying was a good idea. Hermione was wearing a vacant expression, as though trying to take in what was being said, and George just looked at his dad in a fairly incredulous way, obviously shocked that his idea was actually being taken seriously.

Noticing the rest of her family's faces, Mrs. Weasley stopped trying to pack away.  
'Well, I suppose it ... may ... just work,' she reasoned, cocking her head to one side, 'but I shall take no role in the hurting of my son! And I really can't believe you are either, Arthur-'

'Molly,-'

'So I shall simply pretend not to know a thing,' she finished, turning to face the sink and beginning the washing up.

* * *

'Are you ready?' Mr. Weasley asked, his hand resting on the doorknob to George, Harry and Ron's flat.

Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, Angelina, Harry and Ginny all stood behind him with their wands drawn, and Hermione stood at the back of the group, looking suitably frightened.

Slowly, they all began to nod.

'Alright then,' Mr. Weasley said, as he turned the doorknob and pushed open the door.

They all stumbled through it, keeping their wands raised in front of them. As one, nine people, along with nine wands, spun around to face Ron, ready to strike.

'What?!' all nine voices cried at once.

Many wands were lowered in shock, as they took in the unlikely sight before their eyes.

'Ron!' cried Hermione.

* * *

_I don't usually add an author's note cos they tend to annoy me, but I didn't get a single review for my last chapter. _

_Do you know how annoying and frustrating that is? It makes you not want to bother writing any more, so if the same happens for the next chapter, I just won't carry on._

_xx_


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